Border Patrol jobs: Hot, lonely and short

Force struggles to retain new hires as ranks swell

August 28, 2008

IMPERIAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA — Law enforcement officers wanted: must work graveyard shifts alone in remote towns along the Mexican border, put in long hours and perform well in triple-digit temperatures.

That message is never touted in U.S. Border Patrol recruitment brochures, but the reality of working on the border has created an environment in which about 30 percent of agents leave their jobs in less than 18 months.

"This has complications up and down the line," said Richard Stana, director of homeland security issues at the Government Accountability Office. "You're constantly in a recruiting mode. ... If this population keeps churning, you're constantly training."

The Border Patrol's struggle to keep new hires has become more evident as the agency comes close to meeting President George W. Bush's target of 18,000 agents by the end of the year, up from 12,000 two years ago. The surge means 42 percent of agents have under three years on the job.

Senior agents tend to stay put, but the growing number of newcomers has raised the Border Patrol's overall attrition rate to 10.9 percent since October from 9.6 percent during the previous 12-month period and 6.7 percent the year before.